A few months ago, director James Gunn was fired from GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 by Disney after inappropriate tweets were unearthed by right-wing trolls. The movie has since been put on hold indefinitely as the studio scrambles to find a new director and reset the course. There’s little chance Gunn will be hired back, but that isn’t stopping some very, very loyal supporters from showing their support by putting up a “Rehire James Gunn” billboard, and right near Disney’s front yard.
[SEE MORE]
The digital billboard reading “Save the Galaxy: James Gunn for Vol. 3” went up on Monday in Garden Grove, California, only four miles away from Disneyland in Anaheim, California. The billboard was paid for via a GoFundMe campaign that started in September and has since raised $5,000. A link to the site, RehireJamesGunn.com, is listed in the billboard.
THR tracked down Giuseppe Cincinnato, a chef from Ohio, one the minds behind the billboard. Cincinnato understands that it is very unlikely the billboard will persuade anyone over at Disney to rehire the director after his firing on July 20, but he hopes it will let Gunn know he has fans everywhere.
"We really love Gunn as both a creator and the man we've seen him mature into. Even if this wasn't going to cause Disney to see their mistake, we could at least show James Gunn how much support he has in his corner of the galaxy."
Costing $4,000, the billboard will remain up off the California 22 eastbound freeway through November 25, but the GoFundMe page is still looking for donations so they can secure an even more expensive billboard right outside Disneyland around Christmas time. This is just one act of support from Gunn fans, another being from the main cast – such as Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel and Dave Bautista – who all signed a letter siding with their director.
All of that is for naught, sadly, as Disney has made it pretty clear they do not intend to hire Gunn back. A meeting apparently took place between Gunn and Disney chairman Alan Horn back in August, but the decision to separate him from the project remained intact.
[SEE MORE]
Although he may not be back for another GUARDIANS outing Gunn has managed to land on his feet. News broke earlier this month that Gunn was being tapped by Warner Bros. to make a new SUICIDE SQUAD movie, which he would both write and direct. Even Bautista wants in on that action, sending out a tweet saying "Where do I sign up?"